'Ag-gag' bills likely to backfire

6:36 AM,
Apr. 19, 2013

Written by

Ken Paulson

Sinclair went undercover in 1904 to document squalid conditions in Chicago's meatpacking plants, leading to his muckraking novel "The Jungle." His reporting led to new public health laws two years later. In today's social media world, Upton's expose would have gone viral. Sure, we would have lost a classic book, but just consider the retweets.

That possibility unsettles some in the agriculture industry. Concern about videos of alleged animal abuse reaching a global audience has inspired a new wave of legislation across the U.S. Bills pending in at ...